Two Men Jailed After Heroin Is Found In Home

HAMPTON — Two men have been arrested on drug charges after police seized 42 bags of heroin with an estimated street value of more than $6,000 from a house in Hampton.

Police raided the home on Boswell Drive on July 31 after an informant told them one of the residents, Benjamin Garrett Jr., was possessing and distributing "multiple bundles of heroin," according to an affidavit for a search warrant at Hampton Circuit Court.

Frank Foster Gray, a 48-year-old man who lives at the home, was arrested and charged with one count of possession of heroin, Hampton police spokeswoman Cpl. Allison Quinones said. The other resident, Benjamin Ellis Garrett Jr., 52, was not present at the time of the search warrant, Quinones said.

Garrett was arrested Saturday and charged with distribution of heroin, one count of possession of a firearm while in possession of heroin and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Quinones said. He was being held Thursday in Hampton jail

Quinones said 42 bags of heroin and a handgun were recovered from the house. Each bag contained just over 2 grams of heroin with a total value of about $6,300.

Parts of the Peninsula have seen an upsurge in heroin use in recent years. Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News treated 23 people for heroin-related problems in 2008, up from 15 in 2007.

Newport News police have made about five heroin arrests a month in the past year, compared to one or two a month in previous years, said Master Police Detective Brandon Price.

Quinones said Hampton police have not seen a significant increase in the use of heroin in the city.